Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer!!!
When we are born we are born into feeble bodies that can do very little about how and where we are in the world
Dependent on parents for everything
Only able to communicate through cries and smiles
Our first major obstacle to seeing the world around us is overcoming gravity, growing strong enough to have a look around
In time, we learn to hold our heads high, to crawl, then walk then one day run…
And this was as far as we had gotten for over a hundred thousand years…
In the last hundred years we have overcome many more obstacles.
We have mastered flight, mass communication, launched countless satellites and probes, walked on the moon, gazed upon galaxies billions of light years away and peered into the inner workings of matter itself…
In the progress of humanity it is easy to think that we are up and running
But the future may prove that we have not yet even begun to crawl
We have proven that our once feeble minds are capable of holding our heads much higher
And the least we can say, is that we have grown enough to have a look around
And what better place to start learning to crawl than
This Week in Science… coming up next

Spiders… with Personality!
A new study suggests that each individual spider has a personality distinguishable from one-another. Yet another reason to fear spiders and keep a safe distance – you never know if it’s a nice spider or an impulsive one with a mean streak!

Dolphins have names
It turns out that each dolphin within a pod responds to a specific sound, just as we respond to our own names. Just when we thought dolphins couldn’t get more terrifying…

Instagram… For SCIENCE!
Next time someone gives you guff for wasting time posting pictures on the internet, just tell them you are helping out the greater scientific community (that is, if you’re posting wild animal pics) and no, your cat doesn’t count…

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2 Comments

Kerry Hosken

Posted August 24, 2013 at 7:48 PM

Getting close to catching up on the podcasts (again) and was very interested to hear the discussion on BPA. A couple comments on the issue:
1) Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are indeed a major concern. Chemicals such as dioxin, furan, and PCBs are toxic for a VERY long time. However, the semi-volatile POPs are of even more concern because of the global distillation effect. I encourage everyone to learn more on the issue.
2) Blaire is right to be worried about BPA free plastics. What is the easiest way for a company to quickly jump on the bandwagon of ‘BPA free’ without completely re-formulating their supplies? Make a simple slight chemical change, of course. And the result? A formula that may be even more toxic. Look up BPS and be very wary.
3) How would people get fresh water from a vending machine? Why do we need to get it from a vending machine? I believe society operated just fine prior to this and I think it would again. Drinking fountains should be more than fine and if you need to be able to take water around with you, hopefully you can learn to be prepared for this and bring your own steel/aluminum bottle.

Justin, I hate to do this, but there are some things you need to know about your boyfriend Tesla.

Nikola Tesla did not invent alternating current. It was in use before he was born. He did have the first U.S. patent for a three-phase AC motor, but it’s possible he simply stole the design from an existing Italian motor designed by Galileo Ferraris. He also didn’t invention radio, or induction coils, or transformers, or many things he didn’t mind getting credit for. (He did make refinements to each of these. That was the pattern then, as it is now: many inventors working with a few key concepts, with innovations, improvements, and discoveries coming from many different countries.)

There’s no doubt Nikola Tesla was a brilliant inventor in the world of electrical power and electronics, which was exploding by the late 19th century. He was also a bit of an egomaniac, and (like Edison) a tireless self-promoter, trying to get ahead in a crowded, highly competitive field.